


Improving Relations

by Angylsmuse, Orithain



Series: Fourth Pass [4]
Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 22:29:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8915452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylsmuse/pseuds/Angylsmuse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain
Summary: A lord holder decides it's time to do something about the attraction between himself and his holdhealer.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Set about six years in the past from what we consider current day in our Pern.  
> Originally posted June 2001.

Holdhealer Cian shook hands with the watchrider who’d so graciously come to fetch him from the healerhall, bringing him back to his home, Solonis Hold, after giving a number of lectures at Fort Healerhall.  It had been a long two sevendays, and, looking around, he felt like he was looking at it through new eyes all over again.  Elegant, weathered, beautiful - it really was the kind of hold you wanted to put down roots in, have a family, settle down and make a life for yourself.  Provided, of course, you could find the right person.  For some unfathomable reason that thought led to another, that of Lord Holder Dylan, the pain in the arse.

Hefting his bag over a shoulder and picking up the smaller case that held precious medicines and the newer ones he’d acquired while away, as well as a sack full of books, Cian made his way into the hold, nodding to the corporal at arms at the entrance, and headed straight for the infirmary to find out how things had fared while he was away.  Last thing he needed was to run into the lord holder. 

That man just had a way of rubbing him completely wrong... or maybe it was completely right.  Either way Cian had no desire to dally with the lord holder of Solonis, not that Dylan had even shown the remotest interest in him or anything, which could have been part of the aggravation.  Besides, a lord holder needed heirs and a spouse, and there was no way that was _ever_ going to happen, a lord holder’s spouse, him?!  He thought not!

Dylan had been standing at the window of his office and just happened to see Healer Cian’s return - he certainly hadn’t known when the man would arrive and planned to watch for him! He watched Cian until he could no longer see him from his vantage point, then he returned to his desk and stared pensively at the hides waiting for him.

If he were to be honest, he’d have to admit that he’d missed the very annoying younger man. He knew to the candlemark how long Cian had been away, and despite their frequent and vocal clashes, he enjoyed spending time with him more than anyone else. Maybe it was time to see if all those sparks could generate a more interesting kind of fire.

With a determined expression on his face, Dylan stood up and strode out his office, heading for the infirmary.

~*~*~

“You did an excellent job without me; I think you could have handled any major emergency that came up despite the precaution of flits to let me know that I was needed back in case something went drastically wrong. I’m proud of y...” Cian looked up in time to see the lord holder walk in.  Crap!

“Sir, is there a problem with your health that we can aid you with?” the holdhealer ground out as politely as he could.  He was tired, hungry, and more than a little, well, horny if truth be told.  Seeing his gorgeous lord holder only aggravated his temper, his patience and his libido, not necessarily in that order.

Dylan stared at the healer for long moments in silence. Finally he sighed. “Well, at least I’m already in the infirmary,” he said, somewhat mysteriously.

Before the healer could express his annoyance, the lord holder took the final step that brought him within arms’ reach. He gripped both of Cian’s shoulders, held him still, and kissed him. Thoroughly.

Cian’s hands hung limply at his side in surprise, and his mouth was slack with shock as the lord holder kissed him into submission.  By the time he realized what that tunnelsnake was doing, his lips were already responding, his body was at attention, and his libido had taken over.  Damn the man!

When Dylan pulled back, a smug smile on his face, it was only then Cian heard the snickers of his apprentices.  His eyes darkened like thunder, and his lips became set.  His voice was arctic cold as he very calmly inquired as to whether or not the other healers had work they were to be doing, a tone that had them all scurrying for cover as they knew it well enough to know that Holdhealer Cian was beyond furious.

“If you will excuse me, Lord Dylan, I find that I suddenly have to be elsewhere.”  Spinning on his heels, Cian stopped long enough to pick up his bags then stalked out of the infirmary and headed straight for his rooms.

“Well, at least he didn’t hit me,” Dylan muttered. He met the sympathetic eyes of one the apprentices and sighed. “You might all want to hide for a while,” he warned before following the fuming holdhealer.

“And I find that we need to talk, Holdhealer Cian,” Dylan stated blandly as he followed the other man into his rooms and set his back against the door.

Dylan barely had time to duck as a pot of numbweed crashed against the spot his shoulder had rested on a few moments beforehand.  Cian hefted another and took aim.  “That’s what I think of ‘talking’ to you, you sharding tunnelsnake!”

Warily eyeing the mess of numbweed dripping down the door, Dylan frowned in bemusement. “Don’t you think a simple ‘no’ would have sufficed? Of course, considering the way you responded to the kiss, it would be pretty hard to believe.” He ducked again and tackled the other man, knocking him down onto the bed and holding him still with his superior weight.

“Get off me, you sharding son of a bitch!” Cian growled, bucking upwards, trying to dislodge the man on top of him but only succeeding in making the full extent of his arousal known.  “It’s just a physical reaction; it means nothing, other than the fact that right now I’m horny enough that a... a... a watchwher would appeal!”

“Well, I can’t have it said that I made one of my people resort to a wher for comfort,” Dylan purred, lowering his head to capture Cian’s lips again while his body pressed down and rubbed against the healer.

Cian moaned and tried to fight the insidious pleasure that was fogging his mind and seducing his body, clouding his better judgment and making it oh so tempting to give in.  He wanted, shards how he _wanted_.

Ripping his mouth away from the older man’s, Cian growled softly, menacingly.  “Lord Holder Dylan, if you retain any desire to _ever_ have an heir to this hold, then I would strongly suggest you get off of me.  Now!”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I have a swarm of brothers and sisters, any one of whom can be my heir. So if that’s what bothering you, it shouldn’t.” He remained on top of the wiry healer, holding him still while he slowly seduced him, nibbling along his throat and jaw.

“Actually I was thinking more along the lines of you not being _able_ to father children when I get done with you. It really doesn’t pay to piss off your healer, you know,” Cian smirked nastily as he tried to ignore the seductive need that raced through his veins.  “We’re the sort of people you should be wary of annoying as we can either make you better or break you entirely.”

“Why don’t we both just admit that we’ve been thinking about this for a while now? I... missed you while you were away.”

“You... did?” Now that didn’t come out in the scathing tone he’d wanted it to, dammit.  Now Dylan was going to think he cared, and he didn’t care at all, right?  Right! But... a day hadn’t gone by when he hadn’t thought about what the pain in the arse had been doing either. 

No! Absolutely not!  He didn’t fall for lord holders; it was a hard and fast rule, and he wasn’t about to break it for a pair of... stunningly  seductive grey eyes that made him wet when he thought about them.  “Jays,” he moaned in self-disgust.

“I did. So we can either spend another Turn arguing and snapping at each other, or we can admit that we’re both interested and maybe do something about it. Personally, I think the second option sounds a lot more appealing.”

“I don’t date lord holders - especially lord holders I work for,” Cian replied stubbornly.

“Live a little, Cian. Rules are made to be broken. Besides, is all this tension and hostility better than finding out once and for all whether there’s anything real or not between us? All you have to do is be indifferent, and I’ll never bother you again.”

“Wha-what do you have in mind?” the holdhealer asked hesitantly, already damning himself because he knew, he just _knew_ he was going to give in, and when he did, he was going to end up with a broken heart when the lord holder stopped playing lover and decided to take a wife and spawn heirs.

“Spending time together. Getting to know each other. And maybe doing something about _this_ ,” pressing his erection against Cian’s groin, “if you’re willing.”

Cian whimpered and let his head fall back against the bed, baring his throat in surrender.  “Oh shells, you’re gonna... this is gonna... please?” he begged quietly.

“It’ll be my pleasure... and yours,” Dylan breathed an instant before his mouth covered those parted lips he’d been fantasizing about for months. His tongue slipped between them to explore the hot, wet mouth beyond. “Jays, I want you so much.” Wanting to allow Cian the freedom to really choose, he rolled them over so that he was on his back with the lanky body of the healer draped over him.

Cian’s eyes clouded with doubt, but he was too far gone to back out now.  Dipping his head, the healer ran his tongue along the seam of the older man’s mouth, begging entrance delicately, even as his hands brought Dylan’s hands around to rest on his ass.  “Do it, fuck me, please, Dylan,” he requested on a whisper of breath.

“Jays!” Dylan’s fingers explored the firm muscles beneath them, kneading and stroking until the fabric became too much of an annoyance. He tore at it with trembling fingers until he was able to touch bare skin. He cupped the lush curves of Cian’s ass, exploring the soft skin and hard muscle. His fingers slid into the shadowy crevice between, lightly stroking its length and pressing against the tight opening.

Cian’s eyes closed, and he let out a gasp of pleasure as he bucked forward into the firm body beneath him then back onto the impaling digit.  “Oooohhhhhhhh,” he moaned quietly as he felt little used muscles stretch and loosen, accepting the invading finger.

Clenching and unclenching his ass cheeks, the healer’s mouth fell open, and he began to pant softly as he tried desperately to control the need crawling through him, to no avail.  “Shardit all, _you_ , not your finger, holder!”

“Patience, healer,” Dylan laughed. “You of all people should know that this has to be done slowly so I don’t hurt you.” He looked around a little blankly. “We need lubricant, Cian.” He never stopped working his finger into his lover, teasing and arousing him.

“Shards, leave it to you to be logical at a time like this,” the younger man groaned impatiently.  “Well, let go of me, you oaf, so I can get some oil out of my bag.”  At Dylan’s blank stare, Cian blushed slightly.  “So I don’t have a revolving bedroom door, get over it.  I have to get the oil out of my bag of medicines.”

Dylan actually froze for a moment, blinking in surprise. When the sense of the healer’s words registered, his eyes widened, and he smiled widely. “Cian,” he started, but he didn’t know how to express what he was feeling. Instead he kissed the other man, this time gently. After a moment, he rolled onto his side, watching Cian closely as he tugged at his own clothing.

“Hey, don’t get a swelled head over it, _either_ head.  I had a reputation to maintain.  It’s tough being a holdhealer as young as me.  Gotta prove myself and all that.  I may be capable, but the people are used to seeing a more mature person in my position.  So I had to be a little more discreet than I would have liked.  Doesn’t mean I was pining for you or anything,” Cian groused as he stood and began stripping even as he moved to his desk to retrieve the vial of fragrant oil.

“ _I_ didn’t say anything about pining.” Dylan smirked half-heartedly, most of his attention on the creamy fair skin being unveiled as the healer shed his garments. “Jays, you’re beautiful,” he breathed, standing up and moving to the other man’s side, unable to resist the temptation to touch him.

“You have a strange idea of beauty,” Cian grimaced.  “My nose is a beak, my feet are too big, my hands are too long, and I’m practically skin and bones.” Reaching into his bag, the healer rummaged until he found the oil.  Pulling it out, he turned and found himself face to face with the lord holder.  “Yes?”

Dylan shook his head. “Can you really believe that?” He combed his fingers through Cian’s hair. “Yes, perhaps individually your features are not the ideal of beauty, but as a package, you’re incredible. Long, lean, wiry, a body that keeps me up at night, a voice that wraps around me like velvet, hands that can cure disease and heal injuries, a mind that makes me scramble to keep up...” He laughed softly. “Healer Cian, if that’s not beauty, I don’t know what is.”

Cian found himself blushing and stammering.  No one had ever described him in quite such a way.  Damn the man, he was making it so hard for Cian to relegate this to just an itch that needed to be scratched. He settled for a derisive snort and slapped the oil into Dylan’s hand.  “Your lubricant.  You remember what to do with it, right?”

“All in good time,” Dylan purred, sinking to his knees before the other man. He rubbed his cheek against the soft skin where Cian’s thigh joined his torso and blew lightly on the rigid shaft so temptingly close to him. He teased the healer, his hands gripping Cian’s thighs to hold him still, stimulating the tender areas without touching his erection.

“You taste good too,” he rasped. “But I haven’t tasted all of you yet.” Unexpectedly, he twisted Cian around so he was facing the other way, and his tongue darted out to tease the quivering ring of muscle. “Very good,” he growled.

“Oh shards,” Cian whimpered, his fingers biting into the edge of the table and his eyes closing.  “Damn, jays and damn!” he chanted as his legs shivered and strained under the tension of staying still.  The holder was trying to drive him insane.  “They don’t let crazy people be healers, ya know,” he managed to gasp out, trying to get his point across.

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” Dylan replied with a truly evil smirk before pushing his tongue back inside the healer. After waiting so long for this, he was going to enjoy every moment of it and every bit of Cian! He pressed his aching erection against the back of Cian’s leg, rubbing a bit but still trying to hold back. He wanted to hear Cian scream with pleasure before the night was done.

“Sadist!” Cian hissed, his fingernails scraping gouges into the table’s surface as he gave in and began to thrust back against the ravaging tongue.  Oh jays, it felt so _good_!  The healer bit his lip to keep from moaning or, worse yet, screaming.  There was no way he was going to stroke Dylan’s ego that way.

Dylan continued to work Cian’s ass with his tongue while he opened the pot of oil he still held in one hand and carefully prepared himself. He had to bite back a moan as he touched the aching flesh, so ready that it was a painful effort to hold back. If he was torturing the healer, he was doing the same to himself. But it would be worth it.

He moved slowly, oiled fingers replacing his tongue inside Cian, delving deeper. Since Cian admitted that it had been a while for him, the lord holder thought it best to make sure he was completely prepared before taking him. Feeling the tightness clenching around his fingers, he knew that he’d made the right choice. He would have hurt Cian if he’d taken him with only his tongue for preparation. Instead, he could drive him a little crazier as his fingers rubbed over his prostate again and again.

Whimpering softly, Cian tried to thrust back into the fingers, wanting and needing more.  “Dammit, Dylan, will you stop teasing and fly me?!” he ordered impatiently, frustrated and out of patience.  “’Cause I swear if you don’t, my reputation be damned, I’m gonna walk out into that hall and grab the first cute man that walks by and have _him_ fuck me!”

“Well, to save your reputation then...” Dylan laughed as he stood up and pushed past the slick and loosened muscle in a single graceful movement. “Better?” he purred, leaning into Cian and nipping at a soft earlobe.

“Jays, so hot and tight,” he groaned, hands clenching tightly on the healer’s hips. He began to glide back and forth, feeling Cian’s body cling to him as he pulled back.

“Oooooh, jays, perfect,” the younger man moaned, leaning his head back against Dylan’s shoulder and exposing more of his neck for ravishment.  “Just more okay?  I’m so sharding horny!”

“Can’t have that,” Dylan panted. “As lord holder, it’s my duty to ensure that all your needs are met.” He drove forward hard and fast, pounding into Cian, bending him over the table. “That’s it,” he praised, hands running possessively over the white skin of the healer’s ass. “Hold on tight, Cian.” He took him as he’d dreamed of doing for months, growling hungrily.

Cian’s body dropped forward, slumping against the table as he was _taken_.  “Oh, yeah, oh there, shards, oh, jays, oh shells,” he moaned over and over, his head rolling from side to side on the arms that pillowed it.

He could feel his balls drawing up, his cock weep constantly, begging for the touch he was too far gone to give himself.  His anus clenched and unclenched, milking the cock in his ass.

Dylan stabbed against his prostate again and again, making him even crazier until he though he really would lose his mind.  “Please, _please, Dylan_ , need to come,” he begged shamelessly, beyond pride.

“Yes, come for me, want to hear you cry out with the pleasure I give you,” Dylan groaned. He reached around Cian, wrapping his fingers around the slick, dripping cock and stroking him in time with his thrusts. “Jays, so good, want you so bad, Ci.” His mouth fastened onto the side of the healer’s throat, sucking and marking him, tasting him as he felt his balls draw up and his climax come closer.

The lips and the slight scrape of teeth on his throat were the final goad Cian needed.  Crying out hoarsely, the younger man bucked hard, slamming himself from fist to cock and back as he juddered and came.  Over and over his seed spurted into the warm hand holding his cock until he at last lay panting and shivering on the table, totally exhausted and feeling more claimed than he ever had in his life.

Dylan just barely managed to hold back until after Cian came, allowing him to draw all the pleasure he could from the lord holder’s hands and body. When the healer lay limp on the table, he moved again, releasing all control as he took the other man, claiming every inch of him. It took only a very few strokes before his body convulsed in turn, his hot seed flooding Cian’s body, marking him as Dylan’s.

He growled his satisfaction, his mouth still fastened to the same spot on the healer’s throat. There would be no hiding the mark he left. He lay, spent and gasping for air, one hand possessively stroking the lean body beneath him.

Cian lay there for long moments, trying to recover his sanity.  “Shards, that was one sharding itch I had to scratch,” the healer tried to joke weakly, determined to keep what happened relegated to the realm of sex.  There was no way in Fall that they’d just made love; he was not about to use that word in the same sentence with Lord Holder Dylan.  He did _not_ date holders!

“I really love those down-deep itches,” Dylan purred. “It’s so satisfying when you manage to reach them.” He was well aware of what the healer was trying to do, and he was trying to figure out the best way to proceed. He didn’t want to scare Cian off, but he was certainly not going to let him get away, especially not now that he knew how they were together!

“But I’ve found that itches like that usually take several treatments before they go away completely.”

“Oh really?” Cian’s eyebrow cocked.  “And when did you have time to go to the Healerhall and study medicine, lord holder sir?” he asked acerbically.  His tone of voice was ruined, however, by the twitching cock in his ass, which caused him to moan softly and shift invitingly as his still quivering and sensitized body reacted to the pleasure.

“Don’t have to be a healer to know pleasure when I feel it,” Dylan replied, pressing forward, still hard enough to make the other man sigh. “And trust me, any lord holder knows about needing to relax and unwind. If he’s doing his job properly, that is. You take care of the bodies; I take care of _lives_. “ He rubbed his cheek against Cian’s shoulder blade.

“Come on,” he urged, straightening up and bringing the healer with him, not yet willing for them to separate. “We could use a good soak in the bathing pool.”

“Damn pushy man, aren’t you.  Just don’t know how to take no for an answer,” Cian muttered half heartedly, actually enjoying the way that Dylan seemed to want to take care of him.

“Hate to tell you this, but in order for us to _get_ to the bathing pool, I kinda think you’re gonna have to pull out of me, you know,” the healer continued with a wry grin.  “It’ll make it hard to walk otherwise, shorty.”

Dylan growled half-heartedly. “I am _not_ short, you impudent brat.” He finally pulled out of Cian in order to turn the other man around in his arms and kiss him thoroughly. “Mmmm, I think we need to move this to the bath.” He curved an arm around Cian’s waist and drew him toward the other room.

“You’re shorter than me, and call me impudent brat again, and you’re gonna be finding yourself on the receiving end of one of my _less_ than pleasant rectal exams the next time you come in for a check up,” Cian retorted in kind, though he allowed himself to be led around his quarters by a man who’d never set foot in them until today.  Damn, he was a pushover.

“Quality is more important than quantity,” Dylan replied loftily, grey eyes sparkling as he stepped into the pool and drew Cian in with him. Never looking away from the healer, he picked up the sponge and sweetsand, looking forward to exploring every bit of him.

Cian rolled his eyes. “Anyone ever tell you you’re nuts?” he asked conversationally even as he purred and melted under the feel of the sea sponge and sweetsand on his skin and the firm hands cleaning him.

“Frequently... but not since I was confirmed,” Dylan laughed. “And did anyone ever tell you that you purr like a feline when you’re happy?”

“The Fall I do!” the healer nearly yelled indignantly.

Dylan snickered. “Whatever you say, Healer Cian.” He continued to wash the other man, soothing him until he was purring again, then he just raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Oh shut up, will you?” the younger man demanded hotly, turning his back to the older man to hide the grin, which was wiped off when he thought of just how easy this was.  Too easy.  They fit together too well when less than three candlemarks ago they’d been snarling and snapping at each other.  Shards, this was bad; this was _very_ bad.

“No, it’s good,” Dylan replied quietly, letting Cian know that he’d been speaking aloud in his distraction. “We’re good together, Ci. Give us a chance,” he pleaded.

Damn you,” Cian managed to choke out.  “It was easier to snap and snarl at you.  I somehow knew if I let you too close, let you in...” the younger man trailed off helplessly, bowing his head.  _If I let you in, I’d fall for you in the time it takes for my heart to beat once,_ he thought despairingly, already more than half in love with the man behind him.

“Easier isn’t always better, Ci. But you know, I find it easier to love you. I have for a while now,” Dylan admitted, his hands tense on Cian’s shoulders.

“Oh shells,” the healer moaned quietly.  “You had to say it, didn’t you?  A quick fuck or two wasn’t enough, you had to go and use _that_ word.  Fuck.  _Fuck!_ ”  Surging up out of the water, Cian didn’t even bother to dry off, he just padded into the bedroom and began pacing back and forth agitatedly, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

Dylan stared after him for long moments before getting out of the pool as well. He paused to dry off, then followed Cian into the other room and tossed a towel to him.

“Dry off before you get chilled.” He stared at the healer until he started to obey, then sighed, sinking down into a chair. “Love isn’t a bad word, you know. At least not to me. I always kinda hoped for more reciprocation when I finally said it though,” he muttered.

“Well, of course I love you, you sharding idiot, or at least I’m falling in love with you.  You think I’d be this upset if I wasn’t?” Cian growled as he gave himself a cursory wipe down then threw the towel in a fit of pique.  “I told you before this whole thing started, didn’t I?  I don’t fall for holders.  And what do I do, I realize that I’m falling for you!” the younger man continued in a peeved tone of voice as he kept pacing agitatedly.

“What is this thing you have against holders?” Dylan demanded in aggravation. “I don’t eat babies, kill innocents, brutalize animals or any other unsavory habits! Shaffit, Cian, tell me what I’m fighting!”

“I, oh shells, it’s just so sordid,” Cian moaned with embarrassment.  “I had an affair with a hold heir when I was training at Fort.  I thought it was love, he thought it was just sex, and when his father died, he calmly broke it off, told me to quit dreaming and married the _girl_ of his dreams.  I had to deliver their first child because no one else was available at the time,” the younger man remembered as heat sprang to his face.

“Jays! Ci...” Dylan sprang to his feet and was across the room in the blink of an eye. “He was a fool and cruel and hurtful. I don’t play games like that, Cian. What you see is what you get. If I wasn’t serious about this, I wouldn’t be here.”

“I told you it was embarrassing,” Cian muttered, trying to turn away.  “Jays, it’s mortifying is what it is.  Letting a pathetic excuse of cretin use me that way.”

Dylan held onto him, not letting him turn away. “There’s nothing wrong with falling in love, Ci, or thinking you’re in love. He’s the one who was wrong, not you. And I’m not him.”

“That’s just it.  It wasn’t love, it was sex, nothing but sex; I was a convenient body, nothing more than that.  Let’s be realistic, all he wanted was a convenient hole to use,” Cian replied crassly, not willing to let himself be comforted and wanting to shock the older man.

“But _you_ thought it was. If he was too stupid to realize what he was throwing away, that’s his problem. And stop trying to insult yourself. There’s nothing wrong with sex, Ci. What’s wrong is when one person purposely lies to another to trick them into something.

“So let me make this very clear. I love you. I want you. I want you to give us a chance.”

“Damn.  You had to say that, didn’t you,” Cian groaned, dropping his head onto the older man’s shoulder.  “I... I think... I think I love you too, okay?”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Dylan closed his arms around the younger man. “More than okay. In that case, do you think maybe we could do something really radical like go to bed, curl up together to get some sleep, and wake up together in the morning?”

“What, I wore you out already, old man?”

Dylan groaned. “Is it too late to take it all back?”

“Asshole,” Cian muttered, yanking away and stalking over to the bed.  Throwing himself on it, he sulked petulantly.  “And you wanted to stay here tonight?  Funny way of showing it.”

“Jays, you must be tired. Your sense of humor got lost on the way home.” Dylan shook his head. “Here or my rooms, you choose.” He moved toward the bed, stopping beside it to look down at the irritable healer. “Or do you need to be alone tonight?” he asked, realizing that he might be pushing Cian too hard.

“Get in here, will ya,” the healer grumbled, pulling back the covers for the older man.  He ruined his ornery tone with a lopsided smile.  “Please?”

The holder smiled happily as he slid beneath the covers and curled around the healer. “Perfect,” he sighed, his arms going around Cian. “Love you, Ci.”

“Jays, should have guessed you’re into mushy declarations and stuff,” Cian teased with a disgusted sniff.  “And the name is Cian, _Ci-an_.  Got it?”

“Sure thing, Healer Cian. Got it, Ci,” Dylan grinned.

Cian didn’t bother to answer with words; he simply drove his elbow back into the older man’s solar plexus as a reminder.  At the other man’s surprised woof of noise, he grinned.  “Got a problem, _Dyl?_ ”

“No,” Dylan grumbled. “I’m not the cranky one, _Cian_. See if I ever try to be affectionate again,” he continued in a low grumble. “Fine. He doesn’t want pet names, that’s just _fine_ with me.” He rolled over onto his back, arms crossed, sulking.

Cian sighed and turned over.  “Just not Ci, okay, or sugar, or baby, or sweetheart or anything _cute_.  Cute is bad,” he groaned even as he snuggled up against the older man’s back, his hand sliding down to tease his cock before coming to rest on his stomach.

“Ci’s not cute,” Dylan protested. He _liked_ the sound of it, though he would never admit that calling Cian something that sounded like key felt right to him. One hand covered Cian’s on his stomach, pressing it against himself. “And behave. We both need some rest.” He knew Cian did after his trip, and he was determined to make the healer take care of himself. Besides, they would wake up together and could take full advantage of it in the morning.

“Just not in public, okay?” Cian gave in with a sigh.  “Got a reputation to maintain, you know.  “And I don’t like behaving.  I do it all the time because I have to.  I don’t want to have to behave in the safety of my own rooms but,” the holdhealer let out a huge yawn, “sleep does sound kind of good right now.  It’s been a long sevenday.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Dylan replied sleepily. “I think I’ll like you misbehaving... just not when you need your rest. Gonna have to take care of you... worth it,” he mumbled, falling asleep.

“Not a pet that needs to be taken care of,” Cian pouted but the soft sounds the holder emitted told him his complaint fell on deaf ears.  “Just you wait, Lord Holder Dylan.  You’re in for one sharding bumpy ride with me,” he grinned wickedly as he snuggled close.  “Gonna show you just how high maintenance I can be.”


End file.
